Ixtoc I: A Case Study of the World's Largest Oil Spill (Gulf of Mexico, 1979-1980)

[jpak]

http://www.jstor.org/pss/4312725

Abstract

The blow-out of the Ixtoc I exploratory well in the Bay of Campeche on June 3, 1979, resulted in the release of about 475 000 metric tons of oil to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The authors calculate that approximately 24 000 metric tons of oil landed on Mexican beaches, about 4000 metric tons landed on Texas beaches, and about 120 000 metric tons, or 25 percent of the total, sank to the bottom of the Gulf. Since thorough studies of the ecological damage in Mexico have either not been carried out or the results have not been released, the authors estimate biological damage from the spill on the basis of data in the literature, laboratory experiments, and experience with similar spills elsewhere. They calculate that some 15 000 km2 of the Gulf of Mexico can be regarded as poisoned by the Ixtoc I oil, although damage to lagoons was less than expected. The full extent of the damage remains unknown.

Oil spill brings back memories, fears of IXTOC 1

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/spill-111690-brings-fears.html

It’s difficult to find South Padre Island residents who remember the IXTOC 1 oil spill that sprayed the area’s beaches with oil in 1979. But those who were living on the Island at that time have vivid memories of the oil hiding beneath the cover of sand.

They remember oil on clothes, oil on hands, oil destroying pairs of shoes, and a solution available at every home and business to remove the oil before it got on everything inside.

The oil well was blown out from June 1979 until March 1980, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, spilling more than 3 million barrels of oil over nine months.

The oil hung around for years, resurfacing occasionally with the shifting tides.

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Ixtoc 1

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No detailed report on the response operations was published. An estimation of the total cost was made at 1.5 billion dollars, of which 0.4 for the response expenses and 1.1 for the damage. However neither the Mexican nor the American authorities produced either a scientific or financial report of the accident.

As for the Amoco Cadiz’s oil spill, which took place in France the previous year, Ixtoc 1’s catastrophe led to co-ordination between operational agencies and research institutes about a global study of the impact. A committee managed by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Authority (NOAA) was settled to assess the impact on the whole northwest region of the Gulf of Mexico, including human health, professional and leisure fishing activities, mammals, birds, endangered species, as well as economic activities.

More than 4,000 samples were collected and tested to quantify the extent of the oil from Ixtoc 1's role in the overall pollution of the Gulf. This task was made difficult by the fact that the oil tanker Burmah Agate ran aground and caught fire off the coast of Galveston in November 1979, which brought further pollution into an area already hit by a number of disasters.

Slight alterations in taste in industrial fishing shrimps were reported, but without any quantifiable impact on the resources and their capture. Slight variations were detected among the sea birds population. No long term impact was quantified in the areas next to the estuary.

The study represented more than a demonstration of precise impacts, and revealed, for future reference, that impact management, execution and funding procedures must be established before an accident. According to American experts, this procedure should also include fixing a value in dollars for each type of ecological damage.

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Relief-Well Plan Was Used in Worst Blowout Ever, Took 9 Months

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601207&sid=aVWfx_3X8i0U

April 30 (Bloomberg) -- The worst blowout on record took about nine months to cap using two relief wells, the same technique BP Plc has said it will deploy to stem gushing crude from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1979, Ixtoc-1, an exploratory well owned by Petroleos Mexicanos in 150 feet of water, blew out 600 miles (966 kilometers) south of Texas in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche and spilled an estimated 3.3 million barrels into the Gulf, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the American Petroleum Institute.

Oil from the BP well, which blew out April 20, is escaping at a rate of about 5,000 barrels a day, five times faster than previously estimated, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank last week, killing 11 crew members, while drilling in 5,000 feet of water.

“There is likely going to be more oil coming ashore than Ixtoc,” Paul Boehm, who was an oceanography contractor with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the time of the 1979 spill, said today in a phone interview. “This spill has challenges that nobody has faced before.”

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[snot]

1. K&R'd

[intheflow]

2. "...according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association,

spilling more than 3 million barrels of oil over nine months."

Fabulous. This one's been going on for three weeks and has already spilled 11.5 million gallons. And who knows when it will stop?

[HughMoran]

3. Ironic that IXTOC when the letters are rearranged spells TOXIC

So the Gulf spill is worse than TOXIC :(

[southmost]

4. the oil is still swirled into the dunes

yeah, it has been over 30 years and the swirls of oil are still embedded into the sand especially the dunes, the beach down here in south padre island has been a mess ever since, i guess people dont mind the tar, or turn a blind eye to the black specked sand on the beach...or just became accustomed to the poor quality of the beach